''Leptotes'' is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of ...

. They are commonly known as zebra blues in reference to their

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...

-striped undersides. The genus ''Cyclyrius'' was recently synonymized with ''Leptotes'' and its two

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

were thus moved to this genus.

Species

The genus can be divided into several distinct geographic groups which often correspond to

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

and

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

species: * '' Leptotes adamsoni'' Collins & Larsen, 1991 – Adamson's zebra blue * '' Leptotes babaulti'' (Stempffer, 1935) – Babault's zebra blue * '' Leptotes brevidentatus'' (Tite, 1958) – Tite's zebra blue * '' Leptotes casca'' (Tite, 1958) * '' Leptotes cassioides'' (Capronnier, 1889) * '' Leptotes durrelli'' Fric, Pyrcz & Wiemers, 2019 * '' Leptotes jeanneli'' (Stempffer, 1935) * '' Leptotes mandersi'' (Druce, 1907) * '' Leptotes marginalis'' (Stempffer, 1944) – black-bordered zebra blue * '' Leptotes mayottensis'' (Tite, 1958) * '' Leptotes pirithous'' (Linnaeus, 1767) – Lang's short-tailed blue, common zebra blue * '' Leptotes pulcher'' (Murray, 1874) – beautiful zebra blue * '' Leptotes pyrczi'' Libert, 2011 * '' Leptotes rabefaner'' (Mabille, 1877) * '' Leptotes sanctithomae'' (Sharpe, 1893) * '' Leptotes socotranus'' (Ogilvie-Grant, 1899) * '' Leptotes webbianus'' (Brullé, 1839) – Canary blue

Indomalayan The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Ind ...

species: * ''

Leptotes plinius ''Leptotes plinius'', the zebra blue or plumbago blue, is a species of blue butterfly (Lycaenidae) found in Sri Lanka, India to Australia. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793. Description This form closely ...

'' (Fabricius, 1793) – zebra blue, plumbago blue

Australasian Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different contexts, ...

species: * '' Leptotes lybas'' (Godart,

824 __NOTOC__ Year 824 ( DCCCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By date * February 8 – The Tenchō era begins in Japan at the beginning of the reign of the Emperor Junna, bringing an end to the ...

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

species: * '' Leptotes andicola'' (Godman & Salvin, 1891) * '' Leptotes bathyllos'' Tessmann, 1928 * '' Leptotes callanga'' (Dyar, 1913) * '' Leptotes cassius'' (Cramer,

775 __NOTOC__ Year 775 ( DCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 775 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...

– Cassius blue, tropical striped blue * '' Leptotes delalande'' Bálint & Johnson, 1995 * '' Leptotes lamasi'' Bálint & Johnson, 1995 * ''

Leptotes marina ''Leptotes'' can refer to: * ''Leptotes'' (butterfly), a genus of butterflies * ''Leptotes'' (plant), a genus of orchids {{Genus disambiguation ...

'' (Reakirt, 1868) – marine blue, striped blue * '' Leptotes parrhasioides'' (Wallengren, 1860) – Galapagos blue * '' Leptotes perkinsae'' Kaye, 1931 * '' Leptotes trigemmatus'' (Butler, 1881) Lycaenidae - Leptotes pirithous-

References

* (2008):

Tree of Life Web Project The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is an Internet project providing information about the diversity and phylogeny of life on Earth. This collaborative peer reviewed project began in 1995, and is written by biologists from around the world. The s ...

�
''Leptotes'' Scudder 1876. The Zebra Blues
Version of 2008-MAY-19. Retrieved 2009-NOV-29. * (2009): Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms &ndash

Version of 2009-MAY-24. Retrieved 2009-NOV-29.

External links

Marine Blue, ''Leptotes marina''
at Butterflies and Moths of North America
Cassius Blue, ''Leptotes cassius''
at Butterflies and Moths of North America

at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera Lycaenidae of South America Lycaenidae genera {{Polyommatini-stub